Description:
The present invention relates to golf clubs, and more particularly to a club having a cylindrical head especially suited for putting on the greens surface.
Of the many different purpose golf clubs available to the player, none has been the subject of more varied design that the club used for achieving the ultimate goal of the player, rolling the ball into the cup along the surface of the green. Many forms of putters have been devised, each of which is claimed to provide specific advantages to a player, but one form of club head, to date, has been the subject of only very limited and thus far unsuccessful attention by golf club designers.
No golf club having a cylindrical head is known by the present inventor to be now commercially available, although such a club head from time to time has been broadly suggested in the prior art. For example, British Pat. No. 14,169, dated 1968, shows a putter having a cylindrical head, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,665,909 to Wilson and Design patent No. Des. 156,963 to Johnson also disclose putters having cylindrical heads. However, although the general concept of a cylindrical head putter has been known in the prior art for some years, no one heretofore has been able to produce a commercially practical and acceptable putter having that form.
The golf club of the present invention employs a cylindrical club head in conjunction with a novel construction which renders the overall club eminently suitable for play and capable of being fitted to suit the individual player's specific requirements. By employing replaceable, and variable, weight assemblies in both the heel and toe of the club head, the balance can be adjusted to fit the player. Moreover, the angle of the shaft with respect to the club head may be set to provide the lie desired by the player. Both of these settings may be readily made by the player himself, without special tools, and in such a manner that once made, they will not change during play, but may be again altered if the player so desired. These features result in a golf club presenting superior playing characteristics and susceptible of manufacture in a commercially practical manner. Moreover, the golf club of the present invention meets the specifications of the United States Golf Association.
Briefly, in accordance with the invention, the club head is formed of a tubular section, preferably of a metal, although plastic may also be sued, to which the shaft is connected by means of a malleable rod or neck. The latter is secured at one end to receiving means within the cylindrical club head and at the other end to the conventional club shaft. Weight assemblies are provided, one for each end of the tubular head member, which can be inserted into the open ends and retained therein by frictional and/or vacuum forces. With each club, the purchaser obtains a series of different weights assemblies to enable him to experiment and select the proper values for the heel and toe of the club. In addition to serving the function of weighting the club, the particular construction of the weight assemblies employed provide, on the club head itself, a pair of parallel sight guide lines which facilitate the lining up of a putt with the cup.
The malleable rod connecting the club shaft to the head provides a degree of variance in the angle therebetween which may be changed to suit the player's requirement by the application of manual forces. By grasping the club in a prescribed manner, the player, with his own strength augmented by leverage provided by the club head and shaft, is able to bend the malleable rod within a range so as to achieve the desired angle. During use however, the forces applied to the club are insufficient to bend the rod and accordingly, the manually preset angle is retained.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is an elevation of the golf club of the invention with the shaft broken to conserve space;
FIG. 2 is a partial front elevation of the club of FIG. 1 along the lines 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a section along the lines 3--3 of FIG. 2, partially broken away and exploded to show the internal construction of the golf club of the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the manner in which the club is employed.
Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the head of the golf club of the invention and the numeral 12 designates the shaft. As illustrated, the head 10 is cylindrical in shape with a circular cross-section and the shaft 12 is joined thereto at a point intermediate the two ends of the head. The shaft may be of conventional construction including a hollow member 14 which may be stepped or smooth and a grip portion 16, such as of rubber or leather. A ferrule 18 enclosed the junction of the shaft 14 with the head 10.
As will be explained in detail below, weight assemblies of plug form 40 are retained at each end of the club head 10 and when inserted, leave a readily distinguishable rim about each end of the club head.
The novel construction of the present invention is evident from FIG. 3. The club head 10 is formed basically of a tubular member 22, preferably formed of a metal such as steel or aluminum, although suitable plastics may be used, and having a circular cross-section. Approximately midway along its length, a metallic plug 24 is firmly retained within the member 22, such as by force fitting. A bore, whose axis is in the diametral plane of the member 22, extends through one wall of the tubular member 22, the plug 24 and partway into the opposite wall of the member 22, generally transverse to the axis of the tubular member, but at an angle thereto approximating an average angle between shaft and head.
The hollow shaft member 14 is coupled to the club head 10 by means of a rod 26, formed of a material which is malleable, but of sufficient strength to withstand the rigors of golf play. Such a material may, for example, be malleable iron, brass, etc.
The lower end of the rod 26 is received within the transverse bore in the plug 24 and secured therein by means of a pin 28. Preferably, the end of the rod 26 is cut at an angle so as to be snugly received in the bore end of the bottom wall of the tubular member 22, thereby imparting increased rigidity to the assembly. As seen in FIG. 3, the juncture of the rod 26 and the club head is substantially at the mid-point of the latter, thereby balancing the head relative to the shaft.
The upper end of the rod 26 is snugly received within the hollow shaft member 14 and rigidly secured thereto against both axial and rotational motion by one or more revets 30. A plastic collar 32 is snugly fitted around the rod 26 and contoured to fit closely about the upper surface of the cylindrical member 22 at the point where the rod 26 passes therethrough. The collar 32 may be retained in position by friction or if necessary may be cemented to the rod 26 to hold it firmly against the outer surface of the member 22.
The outer surface of the collar 32 is slightly rounded to provide a slidable bearing surface for the internal surface of the plastic ferrule 18. As seen in FIG. 3, the lower end of the ferrule 18 is capable of sliding on the outer surface of the collar 32 as the angle of the shaft is changed with respect to the club head, in the manner to be described hereinafter.
The weight assemblies 40, one of which is inserted into each end of the cylindrical member 22 are shown in detail in FIG. 3. At the lefthand end of the member 22 as seen in that Figure, the weight assembly 40 is shown in inserted position wherein it is retained by friction and vacuum forces within the tubular member. At the righthand end of the member 22, the weight assembly 40 is shown in exploded view to illustrate its construction. As seen therein, the weight assembly is composed of a first cup-shaped member 42 having generally tapered sidewalls and a radially extending flange 42a around its open end. A weight 44, which may be of lead or other heavy material and in the form of a disc or washer, is inserted within the member 42. The weight 44 has an outer diameter such as to be frictionally retained within the member 42 near its bottom. To close up the open end of the first cup-shaped member 42, and to insure retention of the weight 44 within it, a second plastic cup-shaped member 46 is provided having an outer diameter such that it is snugly engaged within the first cup-shaped member and retained therein by friction and vacuum. The axial length of the second cup-shaped member 46 is such that it may be inserted within the member 42 until its closed end is substantially flush with the end of the radial flange 42a of the cup-shaped member.
The radial flange 42a extending peripherally around the open end of the member 42 has a radial dimension substantially equal to the wall thickness of the tubular member 22 so that when the weight assembly 40 is inserted, it forms a smooth extension of the outer surface of tubular member 22.
To aid in the retention of the weight assemblies 40 in the ends of the tubular member 22, plugs of a plastic foam material 38 are inserted within the tubular member on either side of the metallic anchor plug 24 prior to insertion of the weights. As shown at the righthand side of FIG. 3, in its uncompressed state, the foam plug 38 occupies a substantial portion of the hollow space within the tubular member. Upon insertion of the weight assembly 40, the foam is compressed; see the lefthand side of the club head in FIG. 3. It has been found that upon compression of the foam during insertion of the weight assemblies, additional retentive forces are applied to the weight assemblies to further resist accidental dislodgement. It is believed that these forces are generated as a result of a vacuum effect created upon compression of the foam material.
Turning again to FIG. 1, in its completed form, the outer surface of the club head 10 is generally smooth and devoid of knurling of any other surface configuration. Moreover, it is preferably of a light color, such as a metallic grey, to provide a sharp contrast with the dark color, e.g., black, of the material of the flanges of the weights 40. These contrasting colors provide a pair of parallel guidelines which enable a player to more accurately line up his putt with the cup. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 wherein the club head 10 is shown as viewed from the position of the player. According to the invention, the overall length of the club head 10 is made substantially equal to the standard diameter of the cup 60, i.e., 3 2/3 inches, and thus the contrasting rims at the end of the club head enable the player to establish visual sight lines (illustrated by dotted lines in FIG. 4) between the ends of the club and the outer edges of the cup. This is in contrast to the usual sight lines provided on existing putters which require the player to line up the club with the center of the cup which is not clearly determinable, especially with the pin removed.
Further, according to the invention, the diameter of the club head is made approximately 1 1/4 inches, somewhat smaller than the standard diameter of a golf ball. In use, it has been found that the club head imparts to the stroked ball 50 an overspin which serves to add more distance and maintain a truer path of the ball in the direction initially imparted to it. This also reduces any tendency of the ball to lift up in the air and thus bounce off its intended path. The precise reason for this overspin is not completely understood but it is believed that it is the result of the fact that contact between the cylindrical outer surface of the club and the spherical surface of the ball occurs at a point on the ball which is always at or above its center. This is in sharp contrast with conventional flat surfaced putters in which the tendency is for the blade to strike the ball below its center and thus cause it to skid before beginning to spin, as well as to lift it and/or provide a backspin to the ball.
In addition to its utility as a putter, the club has been found to be admirably suited for short chip shots from the longer grasses that fringe golf green. The overspin imparted to the ball enables to cut through the longer grasses with less tendency to deviate from the direction imparted to it.
The present inventor has found that by properly selecting the toe and heel weight assemblies of the club head, a number of putting problems which plague golf players can be alleviated. For example, if the tendency is to pull the putting stroke, more weight should be inserted in the heel of the putter than in the toe. Conversely, if the problem is pushing, the toe should be weighted heavier than the heel. The amount of compensation of course will depend upon the extent of the problem of the individual player, but because of the unique club and weight construction, it it is a simple matter for the player to keep experimenting with the weight assemblies until the proper combination is achieved.
Another customizing feature of the present invention is the ability to set the angle of the shaft with respect to the club head. As indicated above, the rod member 26 is of a malleable material and when properly handled, can provide a range of settings that will satisfy most players. While it would be virtually impossible for the ordinary person to bend the rod 26 manually before assembly into the golf club, when assembled, the leverage provided by the shaft and the club head enables this to be achieved. To accomplish this, the shaft is retained under the arm of the user and the ends of the club head grasped in both hands. Pressure exerted by the hands on the club head will then be sufficient to impart the necessary bend in the rod member 26 to create the desired angle. This feature is illustrated in dotted line in FIG. 3.
It will be understood that various modifications and changes in the structure disclosed will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention and the latter is to be limited only by the appended claims.